[Open] Hit the Slopes

[topgun_textiles]

Characters: Everyone!
Location: Mount Hood, Oregon
Rating: Varies
Time: July 28th - 29th
Description: Skiing! Hot chocolate! Snowball fights! Hiking! Folks of Death City say 'screw the heat' and decide to take a frosty vacation a few states away. COMMENCE MISCHIEF.



The discounted price came at a surprisingly good time. With the temperatures in Nevada climbing and no end in sight, it seems the owners of a Pacific Northwestern lodge took pity on the Meisters and Weapons of Shibusen and offered them a break from the heat. Despite it being July, the snow was still plentiful for skiing, snowboarding, sledding and innertubing! Dress warm, rent some gear or bring your own and have at it, they say!

From dawn to dusk, the mountain is lively on all sides, boarders and ski nuts to ski newbies enjoying a mid-week break while nature buffs take hikes over the trails on the greener side of the mountain, reachable by a short bus ride from the main lodge. Whether you're more into the powdery white or the vivid green, there's a spot for you to take a breather on Mount Hood.

The question is, where do you even start?



[I volunteered to put up the log for the Oregon trip, and here it is! Tag in to one, two, or all three of the areas noted and start your own open or closed threads within. Tag yourselves in (you guys know the drill), mingle, and enjoy!]

Comments

[evokes]

Haha, yeah, definitely! [She takes a pause from her knitting to stretch her arms up.] I thought I'd been finding time to relax already, but it's nothing compared to this.

[prosecutory]

[He puts the paperwork down and reaches for the cup of tea.]

I have cases that I must attend to when we return.

[One of the resort staff hurries over to them. She is wearing the official uniform and her cheeks are practically glowing as she offers one of her many bird charms to Edgeworth along with what she hopes to be a million-dollar smile showing all of her pearly white teeth.

"E-Excuse me sir, would you like a free charm?"

Edgeworth waves his hand in a gesture that clearly turned it down.]

No, thank you...

["Oh, no, I insist!" she insists, her voice a note higher. "You must take it!"]

It's quite all right -

[As he gestured again, the woman leaves the bird charm in his open palm, bows, and skips away giggling like a schoolgirl. What was THAT all about?]

[scatterflower]

[ Chika takes a sip of her drink, before grinning in response. ]

Yeah. I know. I've... been getting a little bit of time to relax here and there but it's not the same as having a whole day or two to just mess around. We really need to set something like this up a lot more often. If we can, anyway.

[tauborn]

He would have noticed if she'd gone after the party fare before Naoto arrived, and probably even gently rebuked her. But as it is, he's admiring her self control. It's doing a little bit better than his at this point.

He wraps his arms around her and snugs her a little closer. "I hope so. It's hard surprising a detective, you know." You are all too smart for him.

[itaidakimasu]

"True," she agrees, tilting her head back to shoot a grin up at him. "We are pretty crafty. But I don't think she's even thought to expect something like this—at least, not on this level. the banner was a nice touch."

[vintage_magic]

Ah. I was wondering who else lived on my floor. I guess I should have made more of an effort to meet my neighbors. [With how she had kept to herself around there, it had been nearly a month before she even learned Lezard lived next door!]

[Lily reached for some more snow, intending to enlarge the ear to match Oscar's oversized ones but stopped with the handful of powder halfway to the sculpture at the mention of goblins. She blinked and gaped slightly in surprise for a second. It seemed a bit coincidental because, well, Oscar wasn't really a pig but a shapeshifting half-goblin familiar... Recovering, she went back to work on the pig and tried to keep her tone casual.]

...Um, goblins? And dragons and wild boar monsters? Sounds like you lived in a lively place. Those types of things were only fairy tales in my world.

[vintage_magic]

Nice to meet you, Chika. So, that contraption switched you too? It does like to cause trouble and I doubt many folks would have been happy if they stayed switched. Well, maybe my partner... [He seemed to enjoy being a Meister a bit too much!] But I'm glad we're back to normal.

[Lily stops to think also, trying to recall where she might have seen the girl before. A customer perhaps?]

Now that you mention it... Could it have been at my shop? I run a vintage clothes store in the shopping district.

[scatterflower]

Yeah. I think my partner would've liked staying as a Meister. But well... she also was pretty annoyed that she needed to learn everything all over again.

[ Even though she had a lot less to learn than Chika did. But the mention of the shop makes everything click for Chika. ]

Oh! Yeah, that had to be it. I went there back when I was looking for a dress for the Gala!

[topgun_textiles]

[He pointed to random splatters on the ground, as well as more than a few footprints.]

You never been in a snowball fight? The signs're all here!

[topgun_textiles]

[He blinked.]

So... what was he?

[pishirogane]

That's most likely why he did it.

[heretic_hamlet]

One land's legends are another land's ways of life, it seems.

[Ramza cobbled together some more of the powdery snow and made to fill out the snowpig's chest... but, seeing Lily reshaping the other ear, he carefully followed suit until he had his reasonably close.

Huh. The roundness really did lend it more the look of a pet than a beast. Who'd have thought?]

But fortunately we had our share of knights and wizards to match. [He laughs.] Besides, many of us had once thought a god of death a myth; how wrong we were...

[topgun_textiles]

He wasn't sure why, but a part of him just wanted to quit being so private about things. At least once in a while! With arms tightening around his neck he let himself feel a little twirl in his mind to match the motion, just a celebratory circle after a day of helping half of Shibusen down the mountains and keeping true to his promise to catch her if she fell.

But as he stopped, even if the giddiness didn't, he had to snap back to reality at some point. She spoke up and he looked out to the others in the lodge. His face stung as he quickly looked away, focusing on her instead.

"Sorry... I'm freakin' proud of you, y'know? Ya did it, Naoto!"

[topgun_textiles]

...None of which are gonna happen t'you. Not on my damn watch. Just keep up what you're doin' and keep those knees apart and your balance center.

[vintage_magic]

[She glanced around again, confirming again that there wasn't anyone within earshot and hesitating a bit as she wondered if this was a good idea. Kanji seemed okay with the idea that she was a witch back home but still...]

...Well, he was given to me as a familiar, a half-goblin, half-gargoyle.

[pishirogane]

Very well... I'll try again.

[They got this far on trust. She could trust him to keep her safe with this too...]

[topgun_textiles]

[Goblin AND gargoyle. Oscar must've looked pretty interesting.]

But why a pig of all animals? Pigs still kinda stand out even if he's tryin' to roll with some kinda disguise.

[topgun_textiles]

[He nodded, and he bid her a wordless good luck with a peck on the cheek. She'll nail this, and then she'll have more than earned that victory tea. You got this. Ganbatte, detective.]

[evokes]

[Minako gets distracted from replying as she watches the display, a little confused but a little curious too. When the woman leaves, she looks at the bird charm in Edgeworth's hand.]

Well that was... something, to say the least. Kind of like a pushy saleswoman or something.

[evokes]

I know I'd be down for that, whenever and wherever. Actually... [Minako leans forward a little, curious.] If we could go anywhere for another trip like this, where would you want to go, Chika-chan?

[pishirogane]

When he didn't put her down, she could only stare, but not yet imploringly. He was looking at her, his own face just as red as hers. Neither of them were really letting go if she put more thought into their current positions.

"I know... Still, were you not here, I wouldn't have succeeded."

She spoke quietly, not really wanting anyone to overhear them, but maybe she was concerned for no reason. Everyone else seemed to be preoccupied with other things such as a the partying in general.

[topgun_textiles]

"Nah, I just helped out. Shit, I should be thankin' you- I wouldn't be as strong as I am now if it ain't for you. I know we learned about opening up n' gettin' help from others back home, but... I-I feel more like I've changed for the better here than back home." Though he was hesitant to do so, he lowered her to her feet.

"But it ain't over yet. I'm still here to lend a hand and we got bigger fish to fry. But for today, let's chill n' take a little breather, yeah? We're outta the hot desert weather."

That icon makes me think someone snuck up and threw a snowball in Ramza's face... XD

[vintage_magic]

I reckon that's true with some of the folks I've met here. I certainly didn't expect to meet an alien!

[With the snow creature looking more pig-like now, she carefully traced a mouth under its snout.]

Knights and wizards, too? Magic wasn't considered unusual where you were from? [It sounded more like Lezard's world than her own.] Most back home thought of it as fiction and didn't believe in things such as sorcerers. They wouldn't have believed in a death god either. And I certainly didn't think it was possible to travel between worlds when I ended up here.

[vintage_magic]

[She sighed.] I'm not really sure what he was thinking. After he was foisted off on me, I was telling him he had to go since I couldn't have a goblin in the shop. And then he turned himself into a pig. I'd have preferred a dog. [It would have been less conspicuous!]

[vintage_magic]

Did you turn into a type of Weapon she didn't know how to use? I ended up being something similar to my partner's Weapon form so he didn't have many problems.

[And the mention of the Gala makes something click in her memory.]

Ah, that's right. You came in with Karina, didn't you? There were so many people in the shop then, I didn't get to check up on all the customers.